The voice of British decency and reason is not yet silenced

George

I hope that Cameron reads this and understands how wrong he is.

Ros

One note of optimism is that the talkbacks on Sky News, the Daily Mail and The Times today were overwhelmingly against the flotilla and its 'ship of fools' and quite on the side of Israel having acted within her legal rights. I believe that the public can see through the lies, spin and distortions that are perpetrated by the media and are actually more canny than we give them credit for. The anti-Semites have most definitely become enboldened of late - aided by, inter alia, the media and weak western Governments.

One thing that you have been quite right about Melanie is Cameron. What a disappointment. And Haigh? Jenny Tonge with a bald head!

Mrs AnneMcCann

I also want to thank you Melanie and to encourage you to continue fighting so courageously on behalf of so many of us in this nation and Israel and especially for our Judean Christian heritage. It is such a relief that you see through so much deceit, hypocrisy,ignorance and downright wickedness in these terrible times. Such a relief when you are on any panel and speak for me! Especially on Question time. I am part of a growing number of Christian believers who want to stand with Israel and the Jewish people, especially at this time and I shared your disgust at the blatantly ignorant statements made by Cameron and Hague castigating Israel without a shred of evidence to support their dangerous remarks. Who needs such "friends"? I am deeply ashamed to be British at this time and hope you will be proud to be another "Mary Whitehouse/Esther. God bless you.

Brian O'Connor

More power to you, Mel. And thanks to the reader.

Perhaps what Israel should do is organize a convoy to Turkey, one which contains humanitarian aid for the Turkish Kurds and is manned by peace activists . . . and widely and repeatedly publicize the totally peaceful nature of the humanitarian effort to the world . . ..

I'm just sayin' . . .

Rob-NY

Melanie - Please count me as one who has a great deal of admiration for your tireless defense of the sole democracy in the region. Israel now is in the same position as the UK was in 1940 due to a similar Marxist/fascist alliance.

jimimac

There is no shortage of supporters for your line, Melanie, and no shortage of BBC tax payers who resent the thoroughly distorted view of the world as presented by the numbskull reporters. The similarly stupid world of Haig and Cameron will not be forgotten come the next election.

Trumpeter Lanfried

The 'proportionality' argument is nearly always bogus. We heard it from the left at the time of the Falklands campaign.

Nothing in the rules of war (and this was warfare) obliges a combatant to give the enemy a fair chance of winning.

M.Bard

I include a blog posted on the BBC web site over a report that inverts the import of the account given by a returning activist because I am sure they will not publish it:

"I just saw Channel 4 item on Sarah Colbourne, one of the returning pro-Palestinian activists and then read on the BBC website the report by Peter Watkins of the same event. The later managed to leave out entirely her saying that she said she was not on the upper deck and did not see what happened there. As a result her account of helicopters, shots, the injured, the peaceful activists suggested the awful murderous Israeli's are to blame. But in the filmed account, you can understand why she thought that - because she did not see the orchestrated mob violence that the rest of us have seen and which clearly shows life threatening action taken against the Israelis. This is a pernicious distortion and typical of what has been going on the last few days. It is as orchestrated as the events on the top deck of that blighted vessel. No wonder the report is instantly no longer available - because it reveals the blatant manipulation of the news."

Richard

Nice work Melanie. I admire your forthright manner and sharp mind. As the folks say here in Spain..... un abrazo fuerte.

ben

Here's my rational, logical explanation for your use of the St. George painting to illustrate this blog entry:

1) George is slaying the dragon;

2) his sword (bearing down on the dragon from above) is traditionally called Ascalon;

3) which recalls the city of Ashkelon in Israel,located above Gaza, which is;

4) home of the dragon of Hamas.

Am I right, Melanie?

Paul & Bet Whitehouse

Good for you, Melanie, speaking out for the truth. Of course Israel is not perfect, but then what government or nation is? However, she is fighting for her very existence, and we know from her Scriptures that her God still loves her and has great plans of blessing for her whenever she turns to Him. Shalom.

victoria williams

I trust Cameron reads this and realises that at last the British government has been brave enough to say what most of us think. For far too long this country and others have uncritically supported Israel. No longer is this acceptable

Brian Williams

I agree with all the well-wishers below. Don't stop what you are doing. We've had 13 years of brainwashing in this country, so anyone under the age of 30 won't know how to think properly. I suggest having a "state your age" box to filter out the morons.

Augustus

From Sarah Palin's Facebook post:

"As far too many in the media, and in various governments, rush to condemn Israel, we must put the recent events off Israel's coast into the right perspective. This 'relief convoy' was not about humanitarian aid, as the liberal MSM keeps reporting. The whole operation was designed to provoke Israel, not to provide supplies to Palestinians held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Anyone who sees the video of Israeli commandos being attacked
as they landed on that ship knows the people on board were vicious thugs, not 'peace activists'. The media insults our intelligence with their outright mischaracterization of
who these enemies are"

She ends with a plea to Obama to
"let Israelis know that we stand with them in their fight
against terrorissts and those who arm and support them."

Like Melanie, one intelligent and right-thinking lady.

You might also be interested to know that the so-called 'aid'
which the flotilla was carrying
has been checked and found worthless and unusable. It included expired medicined and old equipment. Says it all really.

Jonathan Karmi

Indeed a very good letter from that reader. Let me add to that by drawing a parallel …

If Gaza were completely demilitarised, both the people of Gaza and their Israeli neighbours would be living peaceful, normal lives. The economy of Gaza would be in a far healthier state.

If Israel were completely demilitarised, its population would have been butchered and decimated years ago. This threat has hung over Israel since its formation.

That’s the difference. The respective cultures, beliefs and value systems are radically asymmetric.

Too few people in the West seem to cotton on.

Gregory Lyons

I gave up my TV and turned in my licence; there's no way I'm contributing to BBC News. It's about time the licence fee was abolished. If the BBC has any actual value, it should be more than happy to test itself in the free market.

david elder

I am scathing of the media with their loose talk of 'blockade', creating the impression that Gaza was being starved. The restrictions were actually aimed at weaponry. If this were not so, Egypt wouldn't be co-operating with the Israelis on this.

watttyler

Can we now all of us please stop paying our license fee? They have no juristiction to come onto your property, and as far as I can tell, they need to witness that your TV is receiving live broadcasts.

The criminals in power are not going to get it until we do something like this.

And something else. When they give us that referendum on the voting system, can we spoil our papers by writing "European Constitution? No thanks!"

Lets have a campaign to do something. We don't have riots in this country, but we need to do something.

gary smith

You are so right.After the Iranian embassy siege when all the terrorist were summarily executed we all rejoiced, a shot in the arm for a unpopular government.How different these things can be distorted through the hourglass of media

Joe Strummer

The BBC knows full well that these peace / human rights / civil rights "activists" are nothing of the sort but dedicated and violent opponents of Israel, yet doesn't simply state the truth. It is to our nation's eternal shame that the British public is being consistently and deliberately lied to by our national broadcaster.

Adam B.

The BBC is a disgusting propaganda channel, spewing out a daily diet of hatred and bile.

Complain to them, then escalate the complaint when you get the inevitable initial brush off.

Augustus

The question one has to ask is:
Why does Erdogan want to provoke a conflict with Israel at this time? The answer is quite possibly because this is a further step towards the Islamization of Turkey and with its relations with other Islamic countries. The Turkish army, on the other hand, does not want to break friendly contacts with Israel. As regards the violence on board, Israel has every right to defend itself, and no soldier or sailor from any army or navy wants to become a hostage. The fact that violence was planned beforehand is proven by the fact that Hamas TV in Gaza had already reported that violence would be used in order to become
'martyrs for Allah'.

Adam B.

Thank you Melanie for your commitment to truth and light. Could I just point out that there are practical ways for people to support Israel at this time? Buy Israeli produce at the supermarket, or go there on holiday! Also, send messages of support to the Embassy, they appreciate it! We need to show that Israel isn't alone and has a right to defend itself from those who would annihilate her and her inhabitants.

gary ashton

isn't it time to refuse to pay the license fee and take a class action out against the bbc. i'm sure there would be some brilliant legal heads out there who would take this case, it's guaranteed to win. i mean the report into bias is still hidden away in a bbc dungeon somewhere sealed and hidden from the public. that says it all really.

Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley

Sadly, it seems to be becoming a rarity that citizens can be trusted to give thanks and praise or say anything else through this wonderful jungle that is the world of electronic communications technologies.

It seems to me that currently "on-line" Spectator readers may be pleased/lucky/blessed to be able to voice concerns and offer support spontaneously and openly whilst remaining in control of the personal privacy, dignity, autonomy, responsibility and accountability that is the hallmark of all citizens who are born free.

But one wonders why permission was needed to reproduce a comment which one assumes has been sent voluntarily through the usual "post your comment" facility.

Surely all our comments are freely given and should be freely received without interference - ie assuming we all can understand the spirit of voluntarism moving as it does in what some top judge once called " this wonderful jungle that is the charity world". (Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, I think)

One can only hope and trust that this particular effort in support of the whole dialogue may be treated fairly and squarely, if not as appropriate or necessary.

MairiT

I have had to turn my television off as I no longer can handle how I am witnessing Israel being crucified by the powers that be. What do they want to happen? Do they really want to join Iran in eliminating a country that has been built from nothing, produced scientific, electronic and medical benefits that have been shared with the world? What has Palestine and any other Arab country contributed except oil and bloodshed. I can no longer witness the way in which the leaders are bowing to Islamic radicalism. One day, we will be on our knees either crying for the demise of Israel and its people or we will be on our knees thanking Israel. So, Melanie thanks for a little bit of respite

Geoff Miller

Melanie, their are millions of fair minded people out there who see the existential threat to Israel, and to the West, that Islamism constitutes.

It's just that none of us work for the BBC or hold political office.

I wonder why? How come the opinions of the People are so easily ignored?

I guess it was like this in the 1930's - and that didn't end well did it?

Henry Maling

Melanie
just a note to record my gratitude for your excellent work on behalf of humanity. Best regards

David, Thailand

Considering the 21st c global media's animosity towards common sense and decency, the 'humanitarians' could have saved themselves the bother of confrontation by simply claiming they sent 6 ships that were attacked by the Israelis and sunk with no survivors.

Then they could organise a chain of rent-a-thug protests, and our spineless leaders would trample over each other in their haste to be seen to fall into line.

Andy

This is an excellent well balanced message from your reader, and I congratulate him for the balance it shows and to you for your continued work against anti Jewish bigotry - please keep this work up, its very important.

Paul Freeman

victoria williams, June 3rd, 9:23pm

When have you ever heard the British Government uncritically support Israel?

Name one occasion, please. And if you can't, please tell me where that idea comes from?

Daibhidh

Cameron and Clegg probably know they are wrong and at the top of their voice. However, where Israel is concerned they tiresomely play to the gallery of liberal approval.

Miranda Rose Smith

Yesterday I heard John Humphrys state that the IDF went aboard and started ‘machine gunning men women and children’.

Perhaps he was thinking of Amritsar or Bloody Sunday. The other possibility is projection. He wants to machine gun Jews. He projects it on to them.

GaryO

People understand. They know that the Turkish flotilla was an exercise in provocation and nothing to do with humanitarian aid that it purports.

I had always been somewhat reticent to broach the subject of islamist terrorism and I/P issue lest people may feel uncomfortable talking about this. But over the past few days, I have been talking to friends and colleagues openly about this and have been surprised how many of them saw through this propaganda.

People are not as foolish as our politicians and lefty media think they are. Most decent folk know a wrong 'un when they see one. Just because we don't write to the editors or MPs doesn't mean we are dumb.

My advice to people here, talk about these matters to your friends and family, because we stay silent at our children's peril. Next time there is a demo in support of Israel, take the trouble of attending, take your friends, family and the dog with you, well maybe not the dog.

Ben David

"proportional response" is the new vocabulary that allows perpetual Arab victimhood. It has no relation to reality - but can be used in any situation to make any Israeli action sound brutal and illegitimate.

Another one is "occupation".

Here's an interviewer trying to get Amnesty International to define exactly what Israel has to do to stop being considered "an occupier". That real answer is that there is no answer - Amnesty will use the term occupation as long as it's useful to discredit Israel.

Link:
http://www.shalomlife.com/eng/12815/Amnesty:_Gaza_is_Still_Under_Israeli_Occupation/Page1/

Another

simone bacchini

That our new government would be weak on foreign policy was quite obvious from the electoral campaign, where next to no attention was paid to issues relating to it.
It is now obvious that not only are the Lib-Cons uninterested in foreign affairs, they also know - let alone understand - next to nothing abouth it.
Hence the predictable call for Israel to shoe restraint and the request of an international inquiry, when it is obvious that the so-called peace activist of the Flotilla wanted confrontation and, obviously, got it.
Most media outlets, headed by the BBC, have shown yet again that they are only too willing to amplify anti-Israel propaganda which only helps Islamists and those on the far-left. And here we are with another "Jenin massacre", and again when the truth will finally surface the damage will have already been done.
And by the way, let's stop calling anti-Israeli those who can only be defined anti-semites; just look at - for example - the indiscriminate attacks on the Jewish Quarter in Rome of this week. Left and Right protesters were only too happy to intimidate ALL Jews in the area, without bothering to verify their positionn on Israel's actions.

Popsiq

Why not just order the ship into port?

Cameron may be the epitome of "fair, decent, rational souls". But so were the the Einsatzkommando. And so, I fear, are the many Israelis who look into Gaza sip a latte and say "They deserve it. Pour it on. It's all they understand."

This was military on civilians, one side trained and armed the other side provoking a reaction.

Like the Boston Massacre, Phoenix Park, My Lai, Bloody Sunday and a host of other 'disproportionate' reactions, when the armed military get used they should be used with extraordinary care.

tim witcomb

Mel, you do realise St George (pictured) was Turkish?

just Louise

An excellent letter, and his wife is, of course, the only Turkish woman fearful of the slide of Ataturk's great republic into Islamism.
Hague has become Cameron's puppy dog, and Cameron has become Clegg's.
Appeasers all.
For shame!

Matt

We're through the looking glass here, Melanie, and it scares me too. The world seems to be sinking into some sort of madness, and who knows where it will end. I'm a WASP, for my sins, but I remember what Niemöller said, and I want you to know I will not be silent.

Drakken

Popsiq
Well I am sure if the IDF threw flowers and sang a little kumbaya, everything would have been just fine. I find it rather interesting that only Israel gets crucified whenever it sneezes and whatever happens in the rest of the world gets shoveled under the rug.
Just so you know, I am a huge fan of "disaportionate force" in spades.

Raymond in DC

"Further, I am fascinated with this continuous unchallenged claim that Israeli must always act ‘proportionally’. But what this means always goes unsaid."

Based on the repeated comparison of casualties/fatalities on the two sides, it seems clear that for some it would only have been deemed proportionate if more IDF soldiers had been killed.

Lost in all the Israel-bashing is the fact that five of the six vessels followed naval instructions and no one suffered any harm.

Dan T

“But one wonders why permission was needed to reproduce a comment which one assumes has been sent voluntarily through the usual "post your comment" facility.”

@Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley
Your assumption in this respect is incorrect. I located Melanie’s website and emailed her directly.

On a separate note since I wrote that email I have done a bit of googling. I have found videos posted by the activists themselves. They include one man speaking of his regret at not being martyred, in his words “I was not that lucky”. I found another video of an IDF soldier being stabbed, and several more of the brutality. Yet obviously none of these feature on the nightly news.

For my money the media’s reaction is just the symptom, the disease in this country is that the British net taxpayers are too busy working all day while the net tax consumers, BBC, Civil Service and Education establishment are working hard to ensure our re-education.

Martin

Imagine the Turks' response to a flotilla bringing aid to the Kurds. The flotilla would contain those who wish to destroy Turkey,as well as those who support the Kurds.
At about the same time as the "aid" convoy provoked Israel, Kurdish "militants" fired rockets into a Turkish naval base killing six sailors. Very much like the Gaza problem.
Incidentally, as your brave correspondent above states, Turkey is now barely legitimate as the Islamists take over

Martin Smith

Quite. And as regards this "proportionate" nonsense, even if Israel were to take an equivalent number of similar missiles and rain them randomly on Gaza it would still not satisfy "proportionality" because of course Israel takes time to protect its citizens from attack by providing bomb shelters whereas Hamas happily sacrifices its citizens as grist to the international media mill. 24 hour news is now war by other means and Iran/Hezbollah/Hamas are the masters of it.

David Alcock

I would fully agree with the sentiments in your readers letter. However the matter of international anti-Israeli bias is reaching potentially catastrophic proportions (for all of us). Israel for all it's defensive strengths has ignored the power of diplomacy and PR. Ordinary people are taking the BBC position on trust. Israel must, as I have mentioned in a previous post, engage in a 'hearts and minds' offensive. They are clever enough. They just need to recognise that charmless, ungracious pugnacity isn't working. To think that having right on your side is enough to achieve ones goals or even simple fairness in life, is dangerously naive .

Geoff Miller

"tim witcomb
June 4th, 2010 2:50pm
Mel, you do realise St George (pictured) was Turkish?"

Actually he wasn't - came from the place that is now called Turkey. The Turks came from the East and overran the indigenous people of that region.

Get your facts straight mate!

Opps......I forgot, facts don't matter to the likes of you do they.

Nim Chimpsky

I never thought I'd say this, but bravo Melanie Phillips! A rare voice of reason.

But please note, some of us on the left strongly agree with you on this. Oh, I guess it's just me, actually. Ah. That's an uncomfortable shock.

I'm astonished at the general response. At least we shall never again have to deal with the canards that the media is "jewish controlled" etc? (Some hope.)

Even dispensing with an opinion on the exact sequence of events it is clear that there is at least some dispute over exactly what happened. And yet the righteousnesss and condemnation of Israel is so deep one would assume all the facts were already perfectly known, and were all wholly in perfect condemnation of Israel and her actions. This is more usually what we call prejudice. It's remarkable to see so many people overlook this.

An interesting and very recent comparison of this Israeli exceptionalism is available from a couple of examples from the Sri Lankan conflict with the Tamils:

----
On 4 June 2009, 17 days after the war ended in Vanni, five vessels of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) intercepted the MV Captain Ali in the international waters and ordered the ship to move into Sri Lankan waters. The SLN intercepted the ship and found it to carry only emergency humanitarian relief.

Four days after keeping the ship under the custody of the SLN, Colombo turned away the ship."
======
Where was the international furore then?

Similarly we can look at the killing of 17 NGO staff by the Sri Lankan Army in 2006:
------

On 5 August 2006, 17 workers from French NGO, Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger, ACF) were shot dead at Muttur town allegedly by the Sri Lanka Army soldiers who entered the town in the early morning on that day. The aid workers wearing ACF agency T-shirts were reportedly trapped inside their Muttur branch office residence located close to Muttur Cultural Centre. The bodies were all face downwards on the front lawn of the ACF office, seemingly lined up and shot at very close range.
....
Three days have passed since the Muttur massacre took place but unfortunately there has not been any public statement from the UN Bodies including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and concerned UN Special Rapporteurs on the massacre of the ACF workers.
========

Travis

There is an excellent article in today's Jerusalem Post by William Shawcross called "An Irrational, Obscene, Hatred"

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=177768